Derek grabbed the d20 and gave it a roll. Eleven total wasn’t bad, but he was more worried about how far away they were from the battle. The entire group was running as fast as they could, but it wouldn’t be enough if Clarissa was facing the rest of the orc army by herself.

“She’s turned back into a wolf and is running toward us!” Evelyn shouted. “She was incredibly lucky that she was first in combat!”

“That’s a good plan!” Milo said.

Grizzizzik was running a lot faster than everyone else, mostly because he could see so much better.

The shadow of a wolf streaked by, and Derek skidded to a stop. That was Clarissa, running past them. Which meant…

Six orcs followed after her. Milo leapt out of the way as Derek, Evelyn, and Nick covered their faces and let the horde run on past. The more the weapons and bodies moved through him, the more gross it felt.

The orcs seemed to notice the three of them, and they came to a halt.

“It’s alright…” Derek said as the orcs started circling around them. “They can’t hurt us.”

Nick held out a hand like he was planning on grabbing one of their javelins. “We’ll be fine.”

Time slowed down for Derek. His roll produced a dirty twenty. The orcs were holding torches, which benefited Milo.

He didn’t know how long they’d been doing this. Milo’s mana weapon could only go for an hour, and they were closing in on that. Derek rolled the d6 and the d8 as quickly as possible, even though time had slowed for him. They needed to end this fight fast.

With ten points of acid damage, Derek chose the orc that looked like Clarissa’s bonfire spell had hurt it. Milo lifted his crossbow and let the bolt loose, smacking the orc right in the brain. The orc’s eyes rolled up to the top of his head before collapsing. The other orcs didn’t like that.

Grizzizzik dropped next to Milo and pulled out his rapier, stabbing the orc about to come after him. The sword went right through the orc’s stomach. It squealed before dropping to the ground.

“One hit kill. Nice roll,” Derek said.

Nick looked as surprised as anyone. “It was my strongest roll yet.”

One of the other orcs smacked Grizzizzik with his great axe. Derek winced in sympathy as the rogue got a nasty gash across his shoulder and he dropped to ten hit points. The other orc slammed his great axe at Milo, a dangerous gash across his ribcage.

Time slowed down.

Make a constitution saving throw.

“Shit,” Derek said, grabbing the dice. It was a bad enough hit he’d have to roll for concentration to keep his spell working. He gave it a good shake before it landed on a six. The +3 bumped it up to a nine, but it wasn’t enough. It needed to be a ten or higher.

Time resumed, and the green color crossbow flickered and went out as Milo gripped the gash in his side, panting.

Derek picked up a small rock. “Hey! Over here, idiot!” He threw it at the orc, watching it bounce harmlessly off its armor.

With another snarl, Clarissa the wolf leapt onto one of the orcs facing Evelyn and Nick, biting down hard on its shoulder. The orc stumbled but kept standing. It grabbed its javelin and stabbed the wolf biting its shoulder. It was an awkward hit, and Clarissa jumped off with no injury, snarling at the orc. The orc next to it slammed his axe straight through Evelyn’s torso.

She backed away from the ace, touching her dress. “This would be so much worse if it actually hit.”

Time slowed down, and Derek made a roll. It landed on a two. He winced as he watched Milo gripping his side as he lifted his crossbow, trying to aim, but groaning again as the side of his shirt was drenched in blood.

Gathering his strength, Grizzizzik made a slice through to the orc that hit it. It bellowed in anger as it grabbed its belly that now had a clean cut right through it. It snorted, glaring at the rogue. Once again, it picked up his great axe and made a swing. It was too slow and lumbering, and Grizzizzik easily dodged the weapon.

The orc next to Milo tried the same thing. Despite how much pain Milo was in, he sidestepped the weapon, too. The orc stumbled, and the weapon clattered to the ground.

“Someone definitely rolled a nat one,” Derek mumbled.

Clarissa the wolf bit the orc’s ankle, snarling as she did so. The orc bellowed in rage. It brought up a javelin and slammed it down hard. Clarissa yelped as her eleven hit points dropped to five.

The orc who had tried to kill Evelyn picked up his great axe and swung it at Clarissa. It buried itself into the wolf. The yelp of pain finished with a scream as Clarissa appeared as herself. She had seven hit points left and a gash across her hip.

Time slowed down again. Derek was getting nervous. Despite destroying two orcs easily, there were four orcs remaining. Only one looked like it was a breath away from death. Another looked ragged, but ready to fight. He wasn’t sure if the last two had even gotten hit.

He rolled a nat twenty, which felt fantastic. He was really missing the lack of mana on his crossbow, but he might need to save his last mana for curing wounds. Instead, he rolled damage for the crossbow and got a four plus the added three bonus. He then used his bonus action that came with being a badass crossbow user and pulled out his dagger, too. The die landed on fifteen, which was a hit. He got a one with his dagger damage, but every little bit helped. The plus two made it a three, and he hoped with all that damage it would at least be a nice chunk of pain for the orc that looked like it hadn’t gotten hit.

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Time resumed. Milo raised his crossbow and slammed a bolt into the orc’s shoulder before switching, slicing his dagger up through the armor and into his other shoulder. The orc roared, black blood seeping from his wounds. Thankfully, it was the one that had dropped his great axe.

Next to him, Grizzizzik tried to slice at the orc, but the creature blocked it with its great axe. The orc then tried to smash the axe into Grizzizzik’s face, but he leapt out of the way, sneering at the orc.

The orc that Milo injured grabbed his javelin and smacked it against Milo’s head. Derek gasped as he saw Milo’s hit points drop to one. “Milo!”

Blood poured from a gash in his head. Milo was barely standing, gasping for air.

Clarissa slammed her scimitar down on the orc near her, and its cry of pain cut off as the light in its eyes died. Three orcs left.

Clarissa sheathed her scimitar before chanting something in elvish. Sand began picking up around her as they heard a roar of a bear. Derek watched, relieved, as seven hit points bumped Milo up to an eight. The gashes on his head and his side didn’t look nearly as bad.

“I love that feature,” Derek said.

Evelyn nodded. “Me too.”

Grizzizzik and Clarissa too got an extra seven hit points. Which was nice when the orc was ready to slam his great axe into Clarissa’s gut. She got out of the way, but not soon enough. A bit of the blade caught her, and four points were taken off her hit points.

Derek took his turn, rolling the die. He winced as he got a nat one. That couldn’t be good.

Time resumed, and Derek watched in horror as Milo raised his crossbow at the orc. The orc slammed it away with his hand, and it went off, heading straight for Grizzizzik, who had his rapier out. Grizzizzik tried to make an attack on the orc, but got hit in the shoulder with the bolt. He shouted in surprise as he stumbled back, his eyes wide as he stared at Milo.

“What the hell!” Grizzizzik hissed, trying not to look at it.

Milo stared at the rogue with wide, apologetic eyes.

Both orcs came down hard on Grizzizzik and Milo. Grizzizzik’s orc slammed him hard with the great axe and he stumbled back with a slice across his chest. His hit points dropped to three.

Taking advantage of Milo’s distraction, the orc drove his javelin through Milo’s gut.

“NO!” Derek should be used to this. Milo was so incredibly squishy. But it still didn’t stop his sinking heart as his mana fusor’s hit points dropped to zero. The mana fusor stared ahead, still in shock, before his eyes rolled up to the back of his head and he collapsed on the ground.

Derek ran forward, knowing he couldn’t let the orc hit Milo again. Not when he was down. It was terrifying how swiftly things could go wrong with a couple of bad dice rolls.

Clarissa swiped her scimitar into the orc. It grunted, but Derek was pretty sure they’d never even touched this orc. The orc backed away from Clarissa’s attack before once again swinging his great axe at her. Clarissa easily dodged it.

Grizzizzik slammed his rapier into the orc. It bellowed before it dropped to the ground, dead.

Time stood still right as Derek was about to step in front of the orc.

Make a death saving throw.

Derek whimpered as he grabbed the d20.

“Come on. High number. High number.” It landed on a three. “Seriously? I’d stick you in dice jail if I could. You are not behaving right now!”

Time resumed and Derek slid in front of the orc that looked like it was ready to stab Milo. “Don’t! Don’t you dare! Focus on me, you big, stupid orc. Focus. On. Me.”

The orc bellowed at him, sticking Derek through, but nothing happened. “Yeah, that’s right. Use your action on me.”

Clarissa dug her scimitar into the orc, but it didn’t do too much. She hit more of the armor than she did the skin. The orc was not happy. It tried once again to hit Clarissa, but it was so enraged that the great axe slipped from its fingers and tumbled into the ground.

Grizzizzik tried once again to fight his orc, but the creature was so much stronger. It blocked Grizzizzik’s strike, and the rapier tumbled from his weak grip.

“Shit,” Nick said.

Derek made another death saving throw. Having one failure already against him, he didn’t want to make it two.

Luckily, this one landed on twelve, and he got a check on success.

The orc tried again to stab Derek straight through the gut, but it simply went through him. Derek was happy to be a meat shield for his friend.

Clarissa again stabbed the orc. It screamed before dropping to the ground, dead.

Grizzizzik, no doubt angry at losing his rapier, snarled before he leapt against the orc. The creature was no doubt surprised by this. Grizzizzik took a chunk of skin out of the orc’s arm with his fangs. He then looked up at the creature as he chewed and swallowed. Derek winced as he watched Grizzizzik’s health bump up to five.

Nick simply shrugged. “I need every bit I can.”

Derek lifted a hand. “Not complaining here.” Time slowed down for him. “Come on, nat twenty, nat twenty.” It dropped on a seven again. “Oh, come on!” Another x appeared in the failure. He could not fail again. Milo would die. “Milo needs a healer!”

Evelyn cupped her hands around her mouth. “She’s coming!”

The druid bounded over and dropped to her knees, shifting Milo to his back before placing her fingers an inch away from his forehead. She chanted something that sounded like the whistle of wind. A sandy light came out of her palms as they fed into Milo’s head.

Milo coughed, struggling to sit up as seven hit points tumbled into him.

“Oh, thank god,” Derek mumbled.

Grizzizzik pulled out his hell dagger and shoved it into the orc. It bellowed and dropped to the ground, dead. It was the last of them. They had done it. They defeated all fifteen.

After all was said and done, they had gained five hundred experience points for defeating fifteen orcs. Derek sighed in relief as he saw his mana fusor’s experience fill up.

Milo ready for level three.

If anything, Milo needed more hit points. The fact that the three of them could do all this without their fighter was incredible. But they all would have died if Derek, Evelyn, and Nick hadn’t distracted the orcs.

Grizzizzik took his hell dagger out of the orc and sheathed it. “Does anyone have any other healing left?”

Though still sitting on the ground, Milo lifted a finger. “I’ve got one left. And a bunch of gold mana.”

“Princess Clarissa has two left,” Evelyn said.

Grizzizzik lifted his blood covered hand, resting it gently on Milo’s shoulder. The rogue’s teeth lengthened, his eyes turning to slits. The mana fusor shrank back. “I’m going to pull this crossbow bolt out of my shoulder, and you’re going to heal it. Or I will eat you and take my healing that way.”

It didn’t matter that Grizzizzik wouldn’t be able to eat Milo. The threat was enough that whatever color was left in Milo’s face quickly fled. “Okay.”

In one swift motion, Grizzizzik grabbed the bolt sticking out of his shoulder and pulled it out. He let out a shout as Milo grabbed his hand. Derek rolled the d8, and it landed on a five. He got a +3 for his spell caster modifier, and golden mana flowed into the rogue’s arm. Grizzizzik shuddered as the wound on his shoulder closed and he got thirteen points back in his health bar.

“Thank you,” Grizzizzik hissed, looking far better than everyone else, but more angry. Milo didn’t start breathing again until the rogue let go and went looting through the bodies, gathering weapons together.

Clarissa had ten hit points left, but she was holding her hip that had stopped bleeding. Milo brushed some blood off his face. “Do you need to heal yourself?”

“I’ll be fine. Really,” Clarissa said.

Milo reached behind him and pulled out a vial of gold mana. “You, more than any of us, need to keep your health up.”

Clarissa sighed, then took the vial. She downed it before muttering her same elf incantation. The gold mana stitched her wounds and gashes, and Derek saw her health bar fill all the way up. She brushed herself off. “Thank you, Milo.”

Milo’s voice dropped, somehow sounding both light-hearted and serious. “I need you to make sure Grizzizzik doesn’t kill me.”